Unequally Yoked (Part 2c)...

New Testament – Obviously, it would be real convenient to see how Jesus addressed the issue by who he married, but as you know, he didn’t. So what do His teaching say? As far as I can find, concerning this subject, nothing. He gives instructions about divorce and such but not to whom not to marry. So now we move on to Paul. The obvious, most quoted verse is 1 Cor. 6:14-15. The idea is also simple, do not be closely “yoked” with those who do not share your same faith. Paul borrows the idea from the O.T. commandment to not yoke an ox with a mule when plowing (Deut. 22:10.) The idea is that the lack of support from the mule will tire out the ox. So does, goes the argument, being married to a non-Christian. Pretty simple concept, but as I have said before, many people have “succeeded” in having their companion come to Christ. That I will more fully address with another post coming.

Other passages include 1 Cor. 7:39, where Paul instruct that it is ok for widows to marry again, but only “in the Lord.” That phrase is shrouded in some grammatical controversy, over whether it means “with the Lord’s guidance,” or “only someone who is ‘in the Lord.” So I leave it to English majors to tell me. But one that does solidify it pretty good for me is 1 Cor. 9:5, where Paul says that, like Peter, the Apostles and other brothers in Christ have the right to take along “a believing wife.” So this would mean that such a high calling would mean that it would be the best scenario, or the one that God desires for us to follow. Paul says that it is good to aspire to have the “higher gifts,” (1 Cor. 12:31) and so, in my book, if it’s good enough for the Apostles, it’s good enough for me. And on a final note, the idea of a believer and unbeliever being joined together is so foreign to Paul's thought that he has to go back and specifically tell those who are currently unequally yoked to stay together (1 Corinthians 7:12-13). He does this because so many who where converting, where apparently under the understanding that it wasn’t good to be married to a non-believer. So when their spouses didn’t convert, Paul tells them to not get a divorce, but to continue to love the other, and that maybe they might come to Christ as well.